Red card protest by anti-property tax campaigners is largest against Troika

The ‘red card’ march of thousands yesterday to Dublin Castle was organised by the Campaign Against Home & Water Taxes (CAHWT ) and represents the first major protest against both the property tax and the Troika in Ireland.

The CAHWT said that up to 10,000 took part from all corners of the country and is a “warning shot to Labour in particular to withdraw the tax and the plan to steal it from people’s pockets”.

“The unjust so-called property tax will not only plunge thousands of households into poverty, it will also sign the Labour Party’s death warrant, ” said Ruth Coppinger of the CAHWT . “In the same way that the PDs are now extinct, Labour’s pursuit of austerity will be the end of them. We call on Labour to desist from deduction of the property tax from wages and welfare. It amounts to the same theft attempted in Cyprus.”

Gregor Kerr of the CAHWT said there is a growing determination to resist the property tax despite the threats: “The CAHWT is very happy with yesterday’s demonstration — the first serious Irish mobilisation against representatives of the Troika in this country. This week it was acknowledged that austerity has failed to and cannot regenerate the economy. A very modest tax on the wealthy would bring in far more than the home tax, but this of course is not on the Troika agenda.”

The CAHWT holds a conference on April 27th to discuss strategy and is preparing for a day of action against property tax and austerity on May 1st.